New substitute management system for Blue Springs schools

The Blue Springs School District is moving changes now so that when Jan. 1 comes along, they are compliant with new federal regulations regarding healthcare.

By Kelly Evenson - kelly.evenson@examiner.net

Examiner

By Kelly Evenson - kelly.evenson@examiner.net

Posted Jun. 5, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 5, 2013 at 4:04 AM

By Kelly Evenson - kelly.evenson@examiner.net

Posted Jun. 5, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 5, 2013 at 4:04 AM

Blue Springs, MO

The Blue Springs School District is moving changes now so that when Jan. 1 comes along, they are compliant with new federal regulations regarding healthcare.

The Blue Springs Board of Education approved contracting with Frontline Technologies Inc. during its meeting Tuesday to provide a substitute and attendance management software system. The system, AESOP, will allow the district to better track its substitutes in all departments.

The ability to track substitutes will become more imperative when a large portion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act goes into affect Jan. 1, 2014. The idea behind the law is to make it not only easier, but more affordable for people without employer-offered health care to purchase insurance in the marketplace.

Individuals who do not have insurance by 2014 will be required to pay a fee. Employers with more than 50 people that do not provide minimal coverage will also be subjected to a fee. In addition, if the employer does not provide the type of insurance that the federal government deems sufficient, an additional fee will be assessed.

In addition, employers are required to provide part-time employees, those who work more than 30 hours per week or 120 hours per month, insurance. This includes substitute teachers or other substitutes in classified others such as food service or transportation.

Superintendent Paul Kinder said the district has the ability to look at substitutes on a three or 12 month basis, whichever the district chooses During this time, an employer can look at an employee’s eligibility status as it affects healthcare benefits and if that employee averaged 30 hours a week or more during the period.

Kinder said Blue Springs is lucky because it has a health care package in place for part-time employees. He said, others, however, will not be as lucky.

“So many are going to be caught off guard with this,” he said. “They don’t know what is going on, so many people are going to come up short (when the policy goes into effect).”

AESOP will allow for multiple types of substitutes including classified, long-term and permanent and will create reports at no additional charge. The system can also tell if substitutes are working at another district, preventing multiple phone calls. In addition, AESOP has an attendance management component that will keep track of substitute attendance and limits substitutes by hours or days so they are prevented from accepting too many jobs.

The system is expected to be implemented this summer, prior to the start of the 2013-14 school year.